


Sausalito

by TerryJune



Series: Mission Briefs [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, First Op, Friendship, Pre-Series, Sausalito, partners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-13 18:51:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18946798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerryJune/pseuds/TerryJune
Summary: Coulson & May's first Op in Sausalito as mentioned in episode 2x04 - "Face My Enemy""You weren't exactly thrilled when we got assigned that retrieval op in Sausalito; That coffee shop?  Our First mission?""That's because the commander sent us in with no exit plan. I was in the bay for 5 hours.""I fished you out....eventually."Part of a series following the pre-series missions as mentioned in the show.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> References are made to events at the Academy that are detailed in my previous work and are not part of the AoS canon. 
> 
> You don't need to read 'Targets, Friends & Enemies' to follow this but it will help provide context.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References are made to events at the Academy that are detailed in my previous work and are not part of the AoS canon. 
> 
> You don't need to read 'Targets, Friends & Enemies' to follow this but it will help provide context.

“I guess I just don’t understand why _you_ aren’t commanding this mission, Boss.”

“Maybe it’s because I have a hell of a lot more on my plate than babysitting you, Rookie.” Nick Fury rolled his eyes.

Phil grimaced but kept his mouth shut, increasing his pace to keep up with his SO’s stride.

Fury sighed and came to a stop in the middle of the hall, “Alright, now the silence is bothering me.  Out with it.”

Coulson’s eyes bugged and he clenched his jaw tighter, shaking his head, “No, nothing, Sir.”

“I swear to God if you don’t tell me what the hell you’re hung up about I’ll have your ass on an analyst desk so fast that you won’t even remember coming this close to field work.” He bent his head, glowering over the young man.

“It’s just…” Coulson stammered, “Meehan’s play calling tends to be a little hackneyed.”

“And how the hell would you know anything about that?” Fury snorted, “He’s been here for 8 years, _you’ve_ been here for 3 months.”

“I looked it up.” The young agent defended, “This is my first solo mission; I wanted to know who was giving the orders.”

Fury contained a sigh. It was not the first time his rookie had surprised him by having more information than he should. “We will get into _how_ you accessed those classified files at a later time but for now let me clarify; this is _not_ a solo mission.”

“It’s not?” Coulson frowned. “I thought you said it was just a simple retrieval that wasn’t worth your time.”

“It _isn’t_ worth my time.” Fury repeated, continuing down the hall without waiting for Phil to follow, “But you’re still taking someone to watch your back.”

“You _just_ told Meehan I’m tougher than I look.” Coulson’s shoulders tightened, an edge of complaint in his voice.

“Because you take a punch and get back up.” Fury shrugged, “I respect that about you Kid, but until you learn how to not get knocked down to begin with, I’m not sending you anywhere without a specialist to back you up.”

Coulson’s steps stuttered, “A specialist?” He winced and fell back into pace alongside Fury. “Can’t it just be a more experienced field agent?  Someone else with a communications background?”

“Get over yourself.” Fury rolled his eyes, “You aren’t in the academy anymore.  Everyone is on the same team.”

“Have you told _them_ that?” Phil muttered, head down.

Fury came to a stop outside of the strike team’s training gym “This has already taken up more of my morning than I wanted it to.  Head in there and pick yourself out a specialist.  I don’t care.”

Phil balked, looking to the door then back to his boss, “Pick one?  _Me_?  How…”

Fury sighed, crossing his arms and looking over the unassuming young man in front of him, “Look, Coulson, I told you from day 1, you have potential; everything you did at the Academy and these last few months tells me I was right; I think you could have a big future here; bigger than you can even conceive.”

Fury waited for the impact of his rare praise to register with Phil; head pulling up, blue eyes widening.  He smirked, “But you know something else?  Potential is _bullshit_.  Doesn’t matter a lick unless you do something with it.  Learn; grow; all that Mr. Rogers stuff.  Every mission is an opportunity to make yourself better.  You might even be the kind of agent who could be a team leader someday but you’re _not_ going to get there if you don’t practice identifying who you can work with.  So…find someone you can work with.”

Coulson swallowed, leaning forward to peer through the door at the assembled group of specialists taking turns on the sparring matts.  He frowned, “After the way Operations does things at the Academy, I don’t see how I can trust any of them.”

“So?” Fury dismissed with an eyeroll, “I can count the number of people I trust on one hand.  This isn’t the movies; you don’t need to trust someone to work with them; you just need to work with them.”

Coulson bit his lip, brow furrowed, “But..”

“I _don’t_ care.” Fury shook his head, “Figure it out.”

Coulson rocked on the balls of his feet, glancing through the door then back to Fury, “Could you…”

“Nope.” Fury cut him off, “You’re officially Meehan’s until this is done.  Pick your partner and be at the briefing at 1300.” He gave Coulson’s shoulders a push in the direction of the gym before turning on his heel and walking away.

Coulson exhaled.  

He should be used to this by now; Fury signing him up for more than he anticipated and then leaving him to figure it out on his own.  He supposed he should take it as a compliment; that the older agent had faith in him. 

He grimaced, faith or not, he was not feeling very confident about finding someone in that gym with whom he could work.

Taking a breath, he squared his shoulders and walked through the door.

The sparring gym was the smallest of the gyms at Haven Base but it was well lit, mirrors along one wall and pads on the other three.  There were a few racks with heavy bags, speed balls and chin up bars in the corner nearest the door. 

No one made comment or even seemed to notice as Phil entered, standing alongside the racks.  He didn’t mind, long ago he learned the value of being able to remain unseen in plain sight.  What had started as a way to simply survive the school day had become his strongest personal asset in his new line of work.  Others might complain about feeling invisible but Phil reveled in the freedom of taking his time to observe without interruption or interference.

Today there were 13 specialists in the gym.  A handful were a couple of years older, Phil knew at least one was a level 2 agent.  The rest had all been in his graduating class from the Academy.  He had shared a few classes, training exercises and meals with most of them.  Young and eager to prove themselves they sparred with gusto, jumping between karate strikes and jiu-jitsu flips; whatever it took to get their opponent to tap out.

As soon as a tap out happened a new pair would take to the floor.

After about 10 minutes Phil realized there was one among the group who had yet been able to match up with a sparring partner.

He smirked, assuming no one wanted to spar with her for fear of embarrassing themselves. Phil had seen what she could do, knocking out a man twice her size, while in wrist restraints. 

She hardly seemed threatening now, standing at the corner of the matt, arms crossed, a breath lifting her bangs each time someone did something stupid in their match.

He bit the inside of his lip.  The last time he had seen Melinda May he had held her captive for a day and a half during an academy training exercise.  There was no way she’d want to partner with him now. Especially on such a simple job where she would basically be babysitting him.  He assumed she was already taking point on infiltrations and 0-8-4 extractions from hostile territories.  A simple retrieval from a Bay Area coffee shop would be a waste of her time.

Still, of all the people in the room, she was the only one he could see himself working with.  She didn’t take him out when she had the chance during the training exercise.  Despite what Fury said, Phil really wanted to be able to trust the person he was working with and in his gut he felt he could trust her.

Swallowing his unease, he moved away from the racks, coming to a stop along side her shoulder and watching the match with a lifted chin.

He resisted the urge to smile when she noticed him and gave a startled double take. “What are _you_ doing here?”

“I’ve been offered a mission.” He smirked, eyes still ahead, hands clasped behind his back,  “Was sent to select a specialist to join.”

His voice had carried more than he anticipated in the small space and the room quieted, sparring forgotten as their fellow rookie agents looked to him with interest, opportunity floating like blood in the water.

Jeremy Taylor was the first to speak, stepping over the young man he had just tossed to the matt, “Word. What’s the assignment?  I’d be stoked for it.”

Phil narrowed his eyes, “Last time I saw you, you broke two of my ribs and tried to choke me out.”

“Dude…” Jeremy’s arms opened wide, palms up as he smiled, “That was _school_.  I’m a competitive guy.” He shrugged, “Look, you know what I can do; wouldn’t you rather me kick the ass of who ever we’re going after?”

“Whom.” Phil couldn’t stop himself from muttering, feeling pleased when Melinda looked down to conceal a small smirk.

“What?” Jeremy frowned, not having heard the comment.

Phil smiled serenely, “Yes Taylor, I’ve seen what you can do, but I’ve also seen Agent May here kick your ass unconscious so, sure, next time a mission calls for a 6’4” meathead I’ll absolutely keep you in mind but,” He turned to the woman at his shoulder, “This particular case requires someone with a wider set of skills.” 

He waited for Melinda to look up before he raised an eyebrow, “What do you think?  Interested?”

“Dude.” Taylor scoffed, “You trying to find someone who will watch your back or you trying to get laid?”

Before Phil could formulate a snappy come back May had taken two steps and with a cleverly placed heel and flick of her arm, Taylor had been spun and dropped to the ground with a thud.

From the looks of surprise on the older agent’s faces Phil began to realize she hadn’t been standing on the sidelines because everyone feared her.  For the first time he noted that Melinda was the only female in the room.

She ignored the looks and wolf whistles, blowing on her bangs and looking to Phil, “I need to shower; when is the brief?” 

He smiled, “1300, 4th floor.”

She nodded and he waited for her to disappear in to the locker room before he made a show of stepping over Taylor who had yet to catch his breath and get up. “Sorry Jeremy.” Phil mock winced, “Looks like you’ve got a few more things to learn before you get in the field.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still relatively new to this fandom (binged season 1 - 5 for the first time this winter) and am very new to this site (had done most of my writing at ff.net).
> 
> Appreciate any feedback and guidance regarding the community norms and expectations here. Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

Melinda’s arms were firmly crossed over her chest and she rolled her eyes.  Noticing from his seat across the helicopter, Phil cocked his head and raised his eyebrows in silent question.  She smirked and dropped her gaze to his bouncing knee.

Phil swallowed and forced his leg still.  After a silent minute he folded his fingers together and twirled his thumbs.

Melinda shook her head and sighed but he hoped the small smirk on her face meant she wasn’t too annoyed at him.

Eyes skimming the interior of the helo, hesitating on the pilot, she leaned closer to Phil, “Did you notice this plan seems a little half baked?”

“Yep.” Phil’s eyes also checked on the pilot before looking back, “I tried to tell my SO that Meehan doesn’t seem to account for the potential that things don’t always go according to plan.”

Melinda tilted her head, “Wait; Meehan’s not your SO?”

“Nope.  Agent Fury.” Phil shrugged, “I guess you could say I’m on loan.”

Melinda snorted, “Nice way of saying expendable.”

He forced on a closed lip smile to as he considered the possibility. “Hopefully it’s more like I’m just unimportant.” He hoped his smirk was lighter than he felt, “Fury keeps saying I’ve got to learn; working with different agents is a good start, I guess.”

Her eyes narrowed but she moved on, “So which one told you to take me?  Meehan or Fury?”

“Neither.” He shook his head, “They let me pick my own partner.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows arched.

Phil smiled at her surprise, “ _Really_.”

May’s mouth tightened as she looked him over, “Why?”

“I dunno; something about learning teambuilding and trust…” He gestured vaguely with his hands, “I don’t know.”

“No,” Melinda rolled her eyes, “I _meant_ why’d you pick me?  I know why you wouldn’t want Taylor but there were plenty of others in that gym.”

“Yeah and I don’t know any of them.” He shrugged and looked down, picking at a stray thread on his cuff, “I know we’re supposed to put academy days behind us but it’s not always easy.  At least you were a decent person.  There are some people who I don’t think I could ever trust to actually have my back.”

When Melinda didn’t immediately respond, Phil looked back up. 

She was biting her lower lip and, for once, her hands fidgeted in her lap. Seeing him watching her, she sighed, “If this is about trust I suppose you should know I haven’t been on any real missions yet.”

“Wait, what?” He blinked, frowning, “I thought you left the academy a semester early to start doing field work.”

“I did.” She nodded, “All I’ve gotten has been two stake outs; that’s just because they were both in Chinatown and the commanders wanted someone who could stand on the sidewalk without looking out of place.  Each time the real action started I was pulled in.”

Her jaw was set and eyes dark.  Phil didn’t need to question how she felt about being sidelined.

He frowned, “That doesn’t make sense. Why would they do that?”

“Best guess?” She rolled her eyes, “S.A.F. syndrome.”

“You’re sick?” He felt his stomach tighten at the thought.

“No, you putz.” This time when she rolled her eyes it was accompanied with a heavy sigh, “S.A.F. – Small Asian Female.”  She grimaced, “They either think I can’t handle it or they want to protect me.”

“Oh.” Phil stared at her, trying to understand how the commanders could be so short sighted after spending valuable resources recruiting and training her. Haven Base was a long way from the Academy, Phil assumed the only way the commanders didn’t make more use of Melinda May was because they were simply unaware of her skill set.

He tried smiling again, “Well, why don’t you just show them how well you fight?”

He wasn’t expecting the soft, almost amused expression on Melinda’s face, “You were raised by a strong woman, weren’t you?”

He frowned, not following the non-sequitur, “Aren’t most mom’s strong women?”

May shrugged, “Look, I appreciate the sentiment.  There is no way for you to really understand so I need you to trust me when I say it isn’t as simple as you make it out.”

He opened his mouth but closed it again.  She was right, he didn’t understand but he had the sense that they were talking about something deeply unfair.  He frowned, “I know how well you fight and I think I know you’re a good person so how about as long as I keep getting to pick a partner I’ll get you into the field?”

She straightened, eyes scanning his face, “Why would you do that for me?”

His lifted a shoulder, “Who else do I have?”

Her eyes narrowed, looking him over, taking a long time scanning his eyes.  Eventually her pursed lips curled into a small smile and she nodded, “Okay.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Coulson; it’s a Sausalito coffee shop; you look like you’re some wanna be Wall Street intern.” Melinda sighed at him from the back of the van where she was sliding a knife into an ankle sheath.

He looked down at his slightly rumpled suit and tie.  It was a little wide at the shoulders but he had taken the time to iron and hem the cuffs and had thought he looked professional.  Now he was uncertain, “What does that supposed to mean?”

She tilted her head before reaching over the seat and undoing his tie.  “Now take off your jacket and muss up your hair a little bit.”

He frowned but followed her direction. He doubted the mark was going to take him seriously with uncombed hair and without a jacket and tie but she seemed confident.  He turned to Melinda with a tilted head, awaiting approval.

She nodded, “There you go; casual yuppie getting some espresso.”

He glanced at himself in the rearview mirror.  This wasn’t a real undercover op, but he supposed she was right, blending in wasn’t a bad plan. 

He looked to her in black leggings and tank top.  He raised his eyebrows, “And what are you?”

“A.S.A.F.” She smirked.

He frowned, “A…athletic…?”

“Adorable small Asian female.” She shrugged with a smirk and pulling on a pink sweater, “I can wear whatever I want.”

He smiled.  It seemed it wasn’t just on the sparring matts where Melinda May could wield other people’s assumptions to her own advantage.  He snorted, “Yeah…they’re stupid for keeping you out of the field.”

“Well now you’re delaying us from getting into the field; let’s go.” She pulled open the door and hopped onto the sidewalk, crossing her arms and tapping her foot as he clamored out.

The 2 block walk to the shop was made in silence but as they approached the small café Phil smiled broadly, opening the door for her. 

The eating area was small; nautical themed wooden barrels serving as tables to the right and long bar to the left.  Hand painted signs with kitchy sayings about coffee and caffeine hung behind glass cases of pastries.  A half dozen people were enjoying their drinks, reading papers or engaged in quiet conversation.

Phil’s fingers clenched and relaxed, there was no sign of their contact. “Can I get you a coffee?”

“Tea.” Melinda replied eyes scanning the faces of everyone in the room.

He nodded and was about to approach the bar when someone came in the front door.  He dropped his voice low, “There he is; the guy with the Celtics hat.”

Melinda made a point of not looking directly at the guy, “You sure?”

“Yep.  Take a seat at the table,  I’m going to make contact.” He made to adjust his tie, forgetting it wasn’t there.  Instead he smoothed the front of his shirt, “If it all goes according to plan we’ll be heading back to the van in 5.”

Phil straightened his shoulders and saddled up to the coffee bar, leaning against the wood to the left of his target.  He swallowed, recalling the memorized phrase, “Dangerous to wear a Celtics hat this close to LA.”

The man turned his attention to Phil, evaluating him for a moment, “Lakers have won it all two years in a row; the coast is clear.”

Letting out a short sigh, Phil extended a hand, “Phil Coulson.”

The other man gave it a short shake but did not supply his own name, “You been waiting long?”

“No,” Phil shook his head, “We got here barely before you did.”

“We?” The man’s face darkened.

Something twisted in Phil’s stomach and he instinctively halted himself from glancing in Melinda’s direction, “Uhm.  Yeah, I have a partner….a driver.  No worries, this is just between us.”  He swallowed and tried to project a calm sense of authority, “Everything all set?”

The man’s eyes narrowed but after a slow moment, he nodded.  “Almost; it’s not here.”

Phil’s heartrate stepped up, “What do you mean?”

“Relax;” The guy’s grin did nothing to make Phil actually want to relax, “I hid it on site, come on.”

As the man led the way to the men’s room, Phil chanced a glance to Melinda, internally cursing as she was focused on a local paper, not watching as he disappeared into the back hallway. 

Phil hesitated by the urinals as the man ducked into a stall, reaching behind a toilet tank to retrieve a small envelope. 

“Great.” Phil released a breath, reaching for the envelope, “I probably shouldn’t tell you this is actually my first solo operation and I was really afraid of screwing it up.”

“Yeah, you really shouldn’t have said that.” Another man stepped out of the second stall, leveling a revolver at Phil, “Jinxed yourself, man.”

Phil’s face fell and he glared at his initial contact who smirked, “I have a partner too.”

He knew in the breadth of a second that there was no option where this ended clean and easy. Taking in the cramped dimensions of the bathroom Phil dropped a shoulder launched himself at the man with the revolver. Taking advantage of the larger man’s momentary surprise, Phil struck at the man’s elbow, forcing up the hand with the gun, a shot going off and dry wall flakes falling around them.

There was the sound of wood cracking and the door swung free of its lock, May bursting in, fists raised and eyes wide.

Still grappling for the gun, Phil chanced a look over his shoulder, “The envelope!!  Get the envelope!” 

Melinda’s attention moved from him to the man in the Celtic’s hat who smiled at her.  He opened his mouth but before he could say anything she jumped, landing a double kick solidly under his chin leaving him slumping to the floor. 

Coulson’s momentary distraction cost him as he man he had pushed against the wall freed his hand with an elbow across Phil’s face and used the space created to slam the butt of the gun down to the back of Phil’s neck.

He felt his knees give out and the floor rushed up at him as he collapsed.  He blinked hard against the tile, willing himself against blacking out. 

There was a blur, a whoosh of air, a grunt and a thud and suddenly the man who had just pistol whipped him to the floor was next to him, unconscious, blood at the corner of his lip.

Phil frowned, his stunned brain trying to catch up with what just happened.

“C’mon Coulson.” Insistent hands pulled at his shoulder and then tapped on his cheek.

He winced and waived her away, “Ok, ok, ok…I’m coming, I’m coming.”  With a deep exhale he pushed himself up, taking his time to stand, one hand rubbing the back of his neck, the other wiping the grime from his shirt, “So gross…”

Melinda held up the envelope and the revolver, “Could have been grosser. Let’s go.”

He snorted, “Not the Florence Nightingale type, are you?”

She ignored him, about to walk out the door when she suddenly back pedaled, slamming the door shut and then cursing in Cantonese at the broken lock. 

“More?” Phil questioned.

She nodded, “Looks like three.”

“Fantastic.” Phil looked around the room, “Okay then, I guess out the window.”

Climbing over the plumbing they helped each other out the narrow window and dropped into the weeds on the backside of the building. 

Shouts from inside told them the men she had knocked out were coming to.

“Damnit.” She stomped her foot, “An extraction plan would be useful right now.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have one of those so what do we got?”  Phil looked around. A narrow dirt path followed the wall to the corner, back to the parking lot.  Straight ahead of them was the bay.  They were at the edge of a steep 10 foot retaining wall above the marina’s lower dock with several small dingys and motor boats.

“Okay, here we go.”  Ripping open the envelope he pulled out the floppy disk that was the mission’s objective. “This is safer with you.  I’ll keep the envelope.  You go, now.” He gestured across the water, “Get this over to Berkley.  I’ll draw their attention with this and draw them away."

She raised her eyebrows, “That sounds like a very stupid plan.”

He wasn’t about to argue with her so he shrugged, “Misdirection is all we’ve got.  You going to go or not?”

She sighed, looking down to the dock and then back to him, “Fine, but take the gun. If you’re not at the safe house in 2 hours I’ll come back.  I’ll find you.”

“Deal.”  He nodded, watching her secure the disk under the collar of her shirt.

With a smile reflecting confidence he did not have, Phil tucked the envelope very visibly under his arm and moved to the corner of the building.  Once the pack of men had pushed out of the café entrance, he turned tail and ran up the road.

Melinda waited for the sounds of the chase to fade before making the final drop to the dock.  She made quick work on the engine of a 12 foot motor boat, untied the mooring and began to navigate away from the dock.

She was just about clear when she caught site of the man who had held the revolver in the bathroom.  She moved to increase the speed as he ran the length of the dock but he made a jump of the end of the pier that would leave an Olympian jealous.

He didn’t quite make it into the boat but he was close enough that he managed to grab the hanging rope and began pulling himself up to the rail.  Melinda pushed the speed and kicked back, trying to dislodge the man. His grip only tightened and with a grunt he pulled himself into the boat.

His thumb was a swollen purple from where he had gotten it caught in the ropes.  Noticing, May reached for it and twisted.  The man groaned loudly and fell to his knees.  Kicking out a foot he knocked her back and she was forced to release her grip in order to stay upright.

He stood back up and lunged at her.  She ducked and dove for the accelerator, pushing the boat faster into the bay.  The man’s balance faltered and they both held on to steady their balance.  Once the small boat found a rhythm against the waves the man launched himself at her with a snarl but she ducked and met his hips mid way, causing him to flip in the air over her head and land head first against the hard fiberglass hull of the bow of the boat.  

Melinda waited a beat to ensure he was unconscious before she moved back to the wheel.  As she let go of the rail, the boat hit the current and waves of the channel and with their speed, the whole boat lifted out of the air, slamming back to the surface of the water, tossing Melinda overboard.

Stunned she pushed herself to the surface of the water and watched as the boat disappeared over the horizon. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We failed in our mission. We're outnumbered, trapped, hoping not to get killed. Feels like the old days to me." -Melinda May, Episode 2x04

Phil was thankful for his new pair of field agent shoes with the superior support and soles while maintaining the look of a dress shoe.  He had put them through their paces, sprinting over gravel and hopping over a barrier and running full out on the hilly streets, needing to put distance between himself and his pursuers. 

The men were still a block behind when he crested the hill where he and May had left the van.  He took a moment to survey the empty street before yanking open the door, turning the key, and setting the transmission to neutral. With one final check of the road, he released the parking break before rolling out of the seat and ducking for cover behind the adjacent car. 

Phil watched with satisfaction as the men turned on their heels to chase after the van gliding down the hill toward the water.

When he was certain all their attention was in the opposite direction, Phil jogged around the corner and hopped on the first BART bus driving by.

After 90 minutes of bus hopping to ensure he wasn’t followed, Phil disembarked at the stop nearest the safe house and strolled the final few blocks. Checking his watch he was pleased he’d be arriving just as May’s 2 hour time limit was up. 

Entering through the side door there was no sign of his partner; just Agent Meehan at the kitchen table with a stack of files.  “You got it?” The older agent asked as soon as Phil was in the room.

Coulson frowned, checking his watch again. “Melinda isn’t here yet?”  He double checked with the kitchen clock.  There was no way he should have beaten her back to the house.

“You mean Agent May?” Meehan’s eyes narrowed, “No. What happened?”

A pit formed in Phil’s stomach and he felt his face slacken, if she wasn’t here, what did that mean?  She was supposed to take a boat straight across, while he distracted the crew.  He had run, there had been 4 men following him intently.  By the time they would have realized the van was empty Melinda should have been long gone…

 _ **4**_ men.

There were _only_ 4 men who had followed him.

“Damnit.” He exhaled, “There should have been 5…” He turned to Meehan with wide eyes, “We need to find her.”

“No.  We need to find the disk.” Meehan corrected.

“ _She_ has the disk.” Phil stopped just short of yelling.  He forced himself to breath.  “We were compromised. Escaped out the back. I ran as decoy, she was supposed to take the disk back straight here but I miscounted.  There were 5 guys, not 4.  The fifth must have gone after her.”

“Five guys?” Meehan frowned, “How’d that happen?”

“I don’t know” Phil stared at him, “I’m not the one who designed this op.”

The senior agent’s nostril’s flared but he said nothing in retort, instead picking up a walkie; “Garrett, get in here.”

Phil exhaled in relief at the familiar name, “John’s here?”

“Agent Garrett is.” Meehan corrected.

Phil restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

“Hey Rook.” Garrett smirked, descending the stairs, “Boss said you went off on your first big boy mission; have fun?”

Phil liked John; he had graduated the academy a few years prior and also had Fury as his S.O. The older man liked to tease Phil but he also was quick to lend a hand and give him the inside scoop on avoiding pissing off Fury.  Phil had more than once wondered if having a brother would have felt similar to his relationship with Garrett. 

Regardless, he had no hesitation in revealing some of his panic, “John.  I lost my partner, and the disk.  Someone went after them.”

The teasing immediately fell from John’s face, “Okay. Okay. Who is your partner and where did you last see him?”

“Melinda May.  She was supposed to steal a boat and come straight across the bay.” He started walking to the door, “She might be in the water.”

“Melinda May?” John frowned, “The little Asian chick?” He glanced to Meehan who gave him a look.

“What?” Phil looked between the other two men.

Humor filled John’s face and he shook his head, “Nothing Phil. Really. It’s just…cute is all.”

Phil frowned, the subtext dawning on him as he recalled Melinda’s explanation for her lack of field experience, “She’s a good agent. I met her in the Academy.”

“I’m sure you did.” Garrett grinned again.

Meehan snickered, rolling his eyes at Phil’s expression, “Oh relax Coulson.  It’s just talk; we know you haven’t slept with her.”

Phil’s felt his ears begin to burn. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed Melinda May was attractive, but to be frank, every female agent was out-of-his-league attractive and he had done his best to focus on being professional.

“Yeah,” Meehan continued, “And we know she’s good; seen her academy records. She might even be too good.” He looked to Garrett, “Not going to lie, it might be likely that Agent _May_ has taken a slow boat back to China with our intel.”

“Seriously?” Phil couldn’t help his disbelief, “You’re talking about my partner. An _agent_. Who might be in trouble and needs our help.  So can we leave our Archie Bunker impersonations aside and go find her?”

Garrett shifted, looking to Meehan for the order.

With a grumble and a nod the older agent turned back to his folders of paperwork, “Take the helo.  Don’t get into trouble with the FAA out of SFO.”

“You got it sir.” Garrett nodded sharply, dragging Phil with him.

 

“What the hell was all of that?” Phil blustered as they climbed into the helicopter.

“What?” Garrett glanced at him as he flicked switches, “Meehan? Come on buddy, lighten up.  Just guys talking.  A little tease is all.”

“Yeah, but…” He winced, “She’s an agent.”

“A _hot_ agent.” Garrett added. “It’s ok to want to work with people like that.  Hell, makes the job more fun.”

“Right now I’m just trying to _do_ the job.” Phil muttered, “So is she.”

Garrett shrugged, “Don’t be so sensitive.”

“She saved my ass.” Phil retorted, “Took out two guys, one who had a gun, while I got my head cracked.”

“Fury did say you have a habit of being made a target.” Garrett looked at him from the corner of his eye, “How hard did he hit you?  Should you be sitting this S&R out?”

“I’m fine.” Phil crossed his arms, resisting the urge to rub at the base of his neck, “Just fly.” 

* * *

Nearly 3 hours later John was ignoring Meehan’s 3rd warning to head home when Phil noticed something in the dark.

“There!” He pointed to the flashing light of a channel buoy.

“S-O-S.” John smiled, “Well, if that’s not our girl, it’s someone who needs help.”

Hovering as low over the buoy as possible Phil could see Melinda’s pink sweater.

He clamored over the seat and pulled open the side hatch.  Grabbing a bullhorn, he leaned out, “Melinda!”

She looked up and gestured that she was okay. 

“Get the harness down there!” John shouted, “We’re going to be on fumes soon.” 

Phil was already on it, laying the rope into the winch and lowering it down.  Once Melinda was secured, he flipped the switch and the rope began to rise to the helicopter. 

Phil stood back, giving her room to pull herself inside.  She didn’t grab for the door, instead she clung tightly to rope, swinging freely until he reached out and pulled her in, holding her close while slamming the door shut behind them. Stumbling backward, he tumbled to the floor, Melinda half on top of him.  He shifted back on his elbows until he could reach up and give a thumbs up to John who turned the helicopter back toward the safe house.

Looking back to Melinda he reached out, stilling her shaking hands and loosening the harness himself, “Hey, you okay?” She nodded but didn’t speak, teeth clattering together. Phil tried smiling, “Hey, you know that’s cool you figured out how to reprogram the beacon.”

“Fuck you.” Melinda ground out, sagging back against the floor.

He blinked, then frowned, “ _Excuse_ me that it took me so long to escape 4 armed and angry men, fight with my commander and then acquire a helicopter and search the entire bay area for you.”

May pushed herself up to sitting, back against the wall, and glared at him through chattering teeth.

He exhaled, shoulders dropping, “Alright…I’m sorry. Is that what you want from me?  I should have realized earlier that you had someone on your tail too.”  

Her only response was a violent shiver, her hands fisting into her soaked pink sweater.

Phil frowned, it was difficult in the dim light of the helo but he suspected her skin was tinged blue.  He wasn’t sure how long she had been in the water but it was October and it wouldn’t take long for hypothermia to set in.  

Silently cursing his missing suit jacket, Phil began undoing the buttons on his dress shirt, “My jacket is still in the van so all I’ve got is this.  It’s thin but at least it’s dry…”

“Ph-ph-phil…?” May was smiling through her chattering teeth.

Coulson dropped to a knee, “What?”

 She reached out a hand, pointing, “E-emerg-en-ency b-b-lankets.” His eyes followed her gesture to the other side of the cabin where a stack of thick wool blankets was next to the first aid kit.

“Right…” His hands dropped from his shirt and he grabbed the whole stack of blankets, putting one on the floor for her to sit on and then wrapping one over her legs and another around her shoulders, “We’ll be back at the house soon and you can get properly dried.” 

“Feel better already.” She muttered pulling the blanket tighter.

Phil settled awkwardly across from her, legs bent, elbows on his knees, “So what happened?” He looked out the window to the dark water below them, “The guy get the disk?”

She smirked, and the blankets moved, “I’ve got the disk…” She pulled out the soaking wet 6 inch floppy disk and handed it over. "Not sure it matters now."

Phil held the warped and peeling disk, bits of it disintegrating between his fingers. “Fantastic.”

She smirked, “At least you don’t need to worry about Meehan requesting you to run an op ever again.”

“Thanks Ms. Bright-Side.” Phil muttered staring at the completely useless disk. “0 for 1, Phil…”

Both of the other occupants of the helo were now laughing at him.  He tried to glare back at Melinda but he couldn't maintain it for more than a moment, giving up and smiling with her.

They almost lost their lives for a piece of intel that would not be any good for anyone. The disk was destroyed, May was freezing and soaked, he was exhausted and had a killer headache but she was laughing and Garrett was laughing and who the hell cared what Meehan thought.

They failed in their mission but if Fury’s goal was for Coulson to learn something he supposed he had; he just wasn’t so sure his SO would approve that the lesson Phil was taking to heart: mission objectives didn’t matter nearly as much to him as the well being of the agents around him.

He'd deal with Meehan and Fury later.  For now he was content to lean back in the dark, cold helicopter and share a laugh with John and Melinda. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of objectives with this story -  
> In the series, May is resolutely devoted to Coulson; especially the first one and a half seasons. I decided that part of the foundation for that dedication is that as a woman of color coming through a paramilitary organization in the 80s, May would have faced some real harassment prior to developing her kick-ass reputation and Phil was someone who always just saw her for herself and supported giving her a chance. 
> 
> Phil also leans more on first names here because they're still young and haven't had to erect strict professional boundaries yet...that will come in the next story. ;-)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still relatively new to this fandom (binged season 1 - 5 for the first time this winter) and am very new to this site (had done most of my writing at ff.net).
> 
> Appreciate any feedback and guidance regarding the community norms and expectations here. Thank you!


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